Girl Meets Fairy Tale
by sand1128
Summary: One shot in response to the Rucas goes to Disney challenge issued by Jenn0bi on Tumblr.


A/N: Total Fluff but after everything these two have gone through in Season 2- We need some solid fluff. They are 22/23 years old and in college. Lucas goes to Texas A&M and Riley goes to Columbia in NY. The separation has been tough but their relationship has survived. They don't go more than 8-10 weeks without seeing each other in person. They do "see" each other every day through their lengthy Skype conversations.

Wednesday afternoon- Skype conversation

"Sorry Princess. I wish I could go to Disney with you and your family but there was just no wiggle room at all in my schedule." Lucas replies to a disappointed Riley. "Just promise me you are not going to meet Woody and fall in love. I know you have a thing for cowboys." He watches her reaction closely. He can see the flash of disappointment before she steels herself and gives him a small smile.

"I understand Lucas, hopefully we can go there together one day and I promise Woody is safe. I don't have a thing for cowboys… I have a thing for you." Riley explains with her trademark megawatt grin.

"That's good to know- since I have a thing for you too Riles. I promise babe, the worst is almost over. Only a few months left to go and then we will be together so much, you will be begging me to go away."

"I know. I'm counting down the days. We've made it this far and I know it was the right thing for us to do… and Mad Dog- if I didn't beg you to stay during all of your visits- I promise you- I will not be begging you to go."

They both get lost in the moment. It has been a long stretch since they have seen each other in person. They are both feeling the strain and are anxious to just "be" with each other again.

An alarm sounds… indicating that it is time to disconnect and for Lucas to head to class.

"That's the alarm telling me it's time to get to my next class. I promise sweetheart, we will go to Disney together one day. I love you Riley."

"I love you too, Lucas. I'll talk to you tonight."

They both blow kisses to each other and log out.

Lucas

It has been a rough few months but Riley and our future is worth it. She doesn't know that in addition to my classes, I have been working, with a local veterinarian, to save up enough money to surprise her. I coordinated with Auggie, Farkle, Maya, Zay, Isadora and of course our parents for, what I hope will be, the best surprise of her time with me yet. Riley thinks that the trip to Disney is "spur of the moment". It's actually been planned for about 6 months. It was during one of my last trips to NY that I came up with the idea of surprising Riley this way. We have talked about our future for years. Once the dust settled on the "triangle that wasn't" and when Riley finally understood that for me, it's always been her, we started to imagine where our relationship would take us. It was clear that we were both in it for the "Long Game". After this last stretch, I knew I had to "skip a few turns" and hurry the game along. During a late night group chat with Auggie and the Core 4, it was decided that I was going to surprise Riley, in Disney, with every fairy tale cliché her Princess heart ever wanted or could ever want. She was heading to Disney with her parents, Josh and Auggie. The rest will be arriving together and staying out of sight at another Disney resort.

It has been difficult to pull this altogether and I can honestly say, I wouldn't have been able to pull it off on my own. I'm a very lucky guy. I have the best friends and the best future in-laws a guy could ever ask for. Once I brought them all up to speed, they all jumped in with both feet to help me.

Riley

"Riley! Put down your phone and let's go! We have appointments at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique* to get our Princess makeovers for tonight's Pirates and Princess party!" Topanga yells as she looks for her keys.

"I'm trying to get a hold of Lucas. He hasn't answered my calls since we've been down here!" Riley hangs up yet again on Lucas' voicemail. She's starting to get worried. Previously she would have been worried that he just didn't want to talk to her for some reason but those days are in the past. Now she fears that there is something really wrong. Granted it's only been 2 days and they are the busiest days of his week… it's just that since they became a couple, they have never gone even a day without speaking.

"Honey, you told me that he couldn't join us because his schedule was brutal and he had no free time. He's probably swamped. If you don't hear from him by dinner time on Sunday, we will call the school and ask them to do a well visit, OK?" Topanga is hoping that this appeases Riley enough for them to get out the door. She knows why Lucas isn't answering his phone and in a few short hours, Riley will know why too.

Once they arrive at the boutique, Riley and Topanga are quickly whisked away for their princess makeovers. Since the boutique usually only caters to kids, a lot of things had to be completed "behind the scenes" to make it seem like giving an adult the full princess experience was the norm.

Time passed quickly and Riley snapped selfies throughout the experience to send to Lucas and Maya. Before too long, Riley and Topanga were met right outside the entrance by Cory, Josh and Auggie. The 3 of them had "pirate" makeovers and each was trying to outdo the other with lame pirate jokes. They walked to Cinderella's castle where the Princess and Pirate Party was being held.

It was very crowded inside the ballroom and unbeknownst to Riley, the rest of the Core 4 and her family all took up their spots throughout the room, doing everything they could to stay hidden from her eyes.

The band started to play and Cory asked his daughter to dance.

"You OK honey?"

"Yes Daddy, I'm OK. Just missing Lucas tonight."

"It's OK to miss him Princess. I'm sure he would rather be here with you instead of being stuck at school."

"I know he would. It just seems like it's been forever since I've seen him." Riley answered as Cory spun her around.

"We will take lots of pictures tonight and send them off to him. You know the worst is almost over. In no time at all, he will be back in NY and I'll be back to stealing his shoes." Cory chuckles as the song draws to a close.

Riley leans in and kisses her dad on the cheek "Thanks Daddy. I've had a great time this weekend and I know that he will be back in NY with me soon. Nights like this are rough. You know how I've always dreamed of being a princess…. I would've loved for my Prince Charming to have been here with me. I guess it isn't so bad, I did get Captain Cory and his Peg-Leg pirates as my "dates" for the party." Riley walks back to the table and grabs her bag so she can check her phone to see if Lucas has called. Her smile dims a bit when she sees that there are no missed calls or text messages waiting for her.

She strolls outside to the balcony and dials his number again. She sighs deeply when she hears the band start to play "A Dream is a wish your heart makes" at the same time as his voicemail picks up.

"Hey Lucas. It's me again. I hope you are OK. I'm a little worried that I haven't heard from you in a few days. I hope you are taking care of yourself. You know that I would be devastated if anything were to happen to you… I love you Lucas." She hangs up the phone and takes a deep breath. As she prepares to turn around she hears "I love you too Princess."

Standing in front of her, wearing a tuxedo is Lucas. He reaches out to grab her hands. "Surprise babe." Riley's grin is bright enough to rival the sun. "Lucas, what? How? Why are you here?! I thought your schedule was crazy."

"My schedule IS crazy but I had to be here. I couldn't let Princess Dancing Sunshine dance with someone other than her Prince Charming." He answers as he wraps his arms around her. They begin swaying to the music.

"Do my parents know you were coming?"

"Of course they did. I had to make sure that I had someone to watch you for me… couldn't run the risk of you deciding that Gaston was more your type."

She giggles and Lucas swears it's the best sound he has ever heard. He knows that it's a sound he wants to hear for the rest of his life.

"Nah… Gaston has nothing on you Maddog…. Goofy would have been another story." She smirks as they walk back into the room arm in arm.

They walk back to their table and put her bag down by her mom, who jumps up and tries to feign surprise at his appearance. Since no one was falling for her act, she hugged them both and told them to go out there and dance the night away.

As Lucas and Riley reached the dance floor, the band started to play "Beauty and the Beast." Lucas smiles widely knowing that this is her favorite song and that this is her favorite fairytale. They begin to waltz to the song, just like Belle and Beast did in the movie. (Major kudos to Zay for teaching Lucas how to waltz. As Zay was fond of telling Lucas, Tombstone had more grace)

"Princess, When I met you I had more in common with the Beast than I could ever hope to have in common with Prince Charming. Knowing you, loving you has changed that. I know that there are still aspects of the Beast in me…but now they only surface when I think someone I love is in trouble. That is because of you. You make me want to be Prince Charming… You make me want to be YOUR Prince Charming. We have been through so much together and I want to go through everything life can throw at us for the next 100 years, together." He dips her and as he pulls her back to a standing position, he sinks to one knee. "I love you Riley Matthews. I have and always will love you Riley Matthews. Will you marry me?"

Riley begins to cry as she yells "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Lucas stands and slips a ring onto her left hand and the crowd around them starts to applaud. Riley looks up to see her family and friends surrounding them and she can't contain her joy.

"It's OK Riles, let it out." Maya says with her usual smirk.  
And in a move that would make 7th grade Riley proud, she lets out a long and loud "Yay!"

Once Riley found out that everyone was involved she was overcome be her emotions. That her family and friends would go through so much to help Lucas make her Princess dreams come true was beyond her comprehension. Lucas grabs Riley by the hand and walks her outside so she can get a breath of fresh air,

"I take it you were surprised?" Lucas asks Riley

"Surprised is an understatement. This was beyond all of my wildest dreams." She answers quietly with a gentle shake of her head.

"I have one more possible surprise but you don't have to say yes if you don't want to."

"What is it?" Riley asks

"Just know that I will do whatever you want. I want you to be happy, I need you to be happy, that is the only way I can be happy."

"What is it?!" Riley demands

"Riley, we can get married right here, right now. All of our important family and friends are here with us. We could have a Disney ceremony, spend the night in Cinderella's castle and have a huge reception when I get to NY."

Riley is quiet for a moment and Lucas is afraid that he has pushed the Fairytale Cliché a little too far.

"Lucas, do you mean that? I would love nothing more than to become Mrs. Lucas Friar, right here… right now but our wedding should be something for both of us."

"Riley, I love you with everything I am. I know you have always wanted to be a princess and since I fell in love with you, I have wanted to be a prince…your prince. Our families are here, our closest friends are here, we are standing in front of Cinderella's Castle in what is considered "the happiest place on earth" … for me…that's anywhere you are. You say the words and we will make it happen."

"Well then the only thing left for me to say is let's do this." She leans in and kisses him with all of her heart.

The ceremony was short and sweet. The night in the honeymoon suite in Cinderella's castle was anything but short and sweet.

Oh and our prince and princess?

Well, they lived Happily Ever After. It's Rucas…. Did you really expect anything else? ;)


End file.
